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Thursday, June 8, 2017

GST to Help India Achieve 9 Percent Growth Rate: Amitabh Kant

The Goods and
Services Tax, to be rolled out next month as the biggest tax reform since
independence, will help India achieve 9% growth rate, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh
Kant said on Tuesday. He said GST will simplify India's taxation system and
help deal with tax evasion.

“GST is India's
biggest tax reform since 1947...GST will help India in achieving 9% growth
rate,” Kant said at an event here. Noting that the implementation of GST is a
dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the NITI Aayog CEO said it will bring a
big revolution in India's taxation structure.

Several experts
have also said that GST is estimated to boost GDP by 1% to 2% and bring down
inflation by over 2% in the long term.

Kant’s comments
come against the backdrop of India losing the fastest growing economy tag to
China for the March quarter with the GDP growth slipping to 6.1%. China
recorded a growth rate of 6.9% during the January-March quarter.

However, on an
annual basis, India grew by 7.1% in 2016-17.

Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Monday reviewed the preparedness for the new indirect tax
regime, slated to be rolled out from July 1. The meeting was attended by
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia and senior
officers from the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).

This was the first
review by the PM after the GST Council finalised the rates, and the second
since May 2.

The GST Council,
chaired by Jaitley and comprising his state counterparts, has already finalised
tax rates on almost all goods and services. It will meet again on June 11 to
review some of the rates and discuss other pending issues.

All goods and
services have been put in slabs of 5, 12, 18 and 28%, with the exception of
gold and precious metals, which will attract 3% GST, and rough diamond at 0.25%
GST.